


Me & You Together Song

by thebugheadchonifanatic



Category: Legacies (TV 2018), The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-01-07 23:37:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21226136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebugheadchonifanatic/pseuds/thebugheadchonifanatic
Summary: Enemies to Lovers AUJosie transferred to New York City, where her sister, Lizzie, and her girlfriend Hope are residing.During her time there she keeps constantly running into a raven-haired girl that makes her blood boil in annoyance, and things only escalate from there.





	1. The City

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You might not like the tone of the first two chapters but I'd say give this fic a chance towards the third chapter, I kind of changed things up from there

New York is a fantastic city, filled with all kinds of possibilities, diversity, and the city has a unique vibe that no one can help but be attracted to it.

  
  
Josie loved being in the city, she loved going to the local shops, she loved her new university, and she loved it the most during wintertime.

  
On the other hand, her sister, Lizzie, was always distracted by her new relationship, not to mention with Josie's best friend, Hope Mikaelson. 

  
The twins have gone through a lot of self-discovery; they had even gone to separate universities for the first two years. Josie decided to transfer from California to the East Coast for change, precisely because she got sick of the same on and off-again relationship with Landon, and she just needed a complete transformation.

  
  
Josie was fixing her stuff in her new apartment before she had to go for a job interview at a local Library. She finished up quickly, put on a cute black top with her cargo pants fitted with a beautiful black belt, and headed downstairs before walking to the library.

  
  
The interview went well, and she had gotten the job, her sister invited her to join them to some bar, and she headed to take the subway.

  
  
Josie even found beauty in the worse places, but the New York subway was something else altogether, she hated it, all the addicts filled the seats, while she could've sworn that some guy was peeing in an empty water bottle. She scrunched her nose in disgust at the sight and quickly headed out to the street once she reached her stop.

  
  
"Josie looking as fine as ever." Hope smiled widely before enveloping her best friend in a warm hug.  
  
"Thank you...but no one can overthrow the beauty that is Hope Mikaelson."  
  
Hope was a multi-millionaire, her father before he died, left her his company, and her mother died way before then, so now Hope was left without any parents at the age of twenty.  
  
Lizzie came right behind her girlfriend and gave her sister a crushing hug.  
  
"Ugh, I've missed you so much Josie you have no idea !" Lizzie expressed, still hugging her sister tightly, and the brunette reciprocated.  
  
"Me too, Lizzie."  
  
  
  
They had taken their seats at a table and began chatting away, they had talked about the university, Hopes company, the whereabouts of their other friends MG, Kaleb, Raphael, and Landon.

  
  
"Have you heard anything from mom ?" Lizzie asked her sister.  
  
"Not since Klaus," Josie replied.

  
  
Her mother and Klaus had been in a relationship after both Stefan and Hayley's deaths. Both the twins and Hope knew it was a long time coming, especially since their deadbeat father Alaric and their mother weren't exactly romantic.

  
  
"It hit her pretty hard, especially being there when he died," Hope said with a sad expression on her face.

  
  
Lizzie put her hand on the girl's thigh to comfort her, and Hope gave her a weak smile.

  
  
Josie watched the interaction, and it made her heart flutter knowing that the two had gotten together, they were always there for one another through all of it.

  
  
"Anyways, changing the subject, got any new relationship gossip, Josie ?" Lizzie spoke, looking towards Josie.

  
  
Josie simply shrugged, shes had one night stands here and there, gone on dates that never stuck, and been in relationships that were filled with toxicity, that being Landon Kirby. 

  
  
"The same old things, you know Landon and I ended things a few months back," Josie said while playing with the straw in her drink.  
  
"Yeah, well, you weren't the only one," Lizzie said with a cheeky smile, while Hope rolled her eyes at the reminder of once having dated the boy.  
  
"Something was missing. It was as if we went with the relationship because there was nothing else out there, you know." Josie explained.  
  
"That's kind of sad." Lizzie pointed out jokingly.

  
" How about we get you, someone, to relieve all that sexual tension," Lizzie added with a playful look. 

  
"I wouldn't mind," Josie said with a smirk. 

  
"Let's look around, shall we..." Lizzie said while narrowing her eyes, scanning the bar until her eyesight landed on someone. 

  
"See something you like ?" Hope replies to Lizzie's action.

  
"Sorry, Josie...Hope and I found our dinner for tonight, you can take that girl next to her." Lizzie said abruptly, leaving Josie confused, she looked behind her and found a girl with black hair reaching down to her shoulders, and the girl next to her was a raven-haired woman, with a black leather jacket that fitted her figure perfectly. 

  
"Wait...you mean you guys are gonna have a threesome with one of them ?" Josie asked, confused, while her twin and her best friend nodded in response. 

  
Josie didn't do well hiding her confused expression but continued none-the-less. 

  
"Okay, which one are you two entertaining tonight ?" Josie asked curiously. 

"The one with black hair," Hope spoke up, and Lizzie nodded approvingly. 

  
"...and you guys think she'll just be down for that ?" Josie questioned. 

  
"Who wouldn't?" Lizzie answered rhetorically. 

  
Just like that, the couple went up to the black-haired girl and began to buy her drinks and flirt with her leaving the raven-haired girl alone to be fourth-wheeling. Josie watched the whole interaction until her eyes were caught by green orbs staring back at her. The raven-haired girl grabbed her beer and walked towards the brunette. Josie's heart rate began to pick up as the girl continued to near her.

  
"I'm guessing your friends ditched you, so we are on the same boat." The raven-haired girl said.

  
"They seem to like your friend," Josie replied, continuing with the small talk. 

  
"Well, good thing I like you more." The raven-haired girl replied before taking a sip from her beer and giving Josie a wink.

  
The two stared at one another intensely before Josie broke the tension asking her the obvious question.

  
"Want to get out of here ?" Josie asked, directly waiting for the girl's response. 

  
The raven-haired girl pondered for a second, it seemed like she was going to accept after all she did initiate the flirtation, but alas the girl gave her a mischievous smile.

  
"You didn't even ask for my name." The girl replied before leaving Josie hanging and walking out of the bar just like that.

  
  
Josie wasn't really offended; she was just bothered, she felt somewhat played, but whatever, she wasn't going to occupy her mind on something so unnecessary.

* * *

  
  
It was late, and at two in the morning, Josie headed back home. She made some tea and sat on her couch browsing the shows on her television for some late-night bingeing when all of a sudden, the fire alarm went off, and she huffed in annoyance. Some fucker was really trying to test her already shattered patience.  
  
She put on her robe and slippers, heading downstairs with the other residents. It was now three in the morning, and it was freezing outside, Josie hadn't gotten used to the east coast weather yet.  
  
The girl next to her was very calm about the whole situation, she was smoking a cigarette and had been wearing an ideally familiar fitted leather jacket.

  
  
"Take a picture. It will last longer." She said to Josie, who hadn't realized that she was staring until the girl pointed it out. She finished smoking and then extinguished the cigarette with her heels.

  
Of course, it had to be that same woman from the bar tonight because how else would the universe try to fuck with her.  
  
"Miss Park, be careful next time, maybe don't put that much alcohol with your steak next time." The firefighter said before heading back into the truck.

  
  
It didn't surprise Josie that it had been the same woman that made everyone head out of their rooms this late, and the way she seemed to disregard Josie as if she hadn't met her previously that night bothered Josie. The raven-haired girl clearly had some kind of attitude and ego problem or was simply put a bitch.  
  
"Did you want to burn down the whole building or what ?" Josie shot a glance at the girl.  
  
"If I wanted to burn down the building, I would've, the same way I would've been in bed with you right now if I wanted to." The raven-haired girl said with her own personal flair.

  
Josie's insecurity was struck by the comment, so the raven-haired girl did remember her. At the start of the night, she would've thought that the woman was nice, but now Josie was so glad she didn't end up in bed with her.

  
Before Josie could rebut, the raven-haired girl headed back into the apartment complex without a second glance.  
  
  
The next day, however, there was a loud knock on her door; if things were gonna keep going at this rate, at this point, Josie might have to move, cause she liked to sleep peacefully without anything waking her up.  
  
She yawned still sleepily and then headed to open the door with a disheveled look, but at this point, she couldn't give a fuck.  
  
She opened the door slightly and was met with a girl with the girl with black hair down to her shoulders, and she wore a denim jacket with a white top and denim pants to match.  
  
"Sorry to bother you, I'm Maya, my roommate and I live down the hall, we were just handing these cupcakes out as a peace offering for everyone for the whole incident last night," Maya explained casually.  
  
"Oh, so your roommate is that girl with the attitude problem, noted. Thank you for the cupcake, anyways." Josie said before grabbing one from Maya's basket, she was ready to close the door, but then Maya decided to reply before she did.  
  
"I know she doesn't necessarily give out the best first impression, but regardless she apologizes," Maya said back with a steady glance.

  
If the girl wasn't somehow connected to the raven-haired girl, Josie would've liked her, but she couldn't understand how someone would be friends with someone like that or even live with them.  
  
"How come you are the one making the peace offering then ?" Josie challenged.  
  
"She has to head to work pretty early, she was going to do it, but I decided to take over," Maya explained, and Josie was stunned she completely forgot about her first day at work, it was Saturday, but her boss told her she had to come in today.  
  
"Fuck fuck fuck, sorry I realized I have to be somewhere," Josie explained in a rush.  
  
"Yeah, no problem," Maya said, leaving, and Josie quickly closed the door as she hurriedly put on some clothes and headed out the door.

* * *

  
  
She arrived at the library thirty minutes late, how was she so forgetful this was surely going to perceive her in a wrong way to her boss. She went to his office but then realized he had been occupied by another employee, so she sat outside of his office waiting to go in.  
  
After twenty minutes the door open, and that same raven haired girl came out before closing the door behind her, of course, she had to be working here because Josie seemed to have some terrible luck recently.  
  
"Do you like stalking me now or ?" The girl said to Josie, while the brunette rolled her eyes.  
  
"Believe it or not, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere near you." Josie shot back, while the girl gave her a snarky smirk.  
  
"Seemed different last night." The girl gave Josie a cocky smile.  
  
At that, their boss came out of the office looking at the two,  
  
"Penelope you've met your new co-worker, this is Josie, she's gonna be working with you in the database section." Their boss explained.  
  
Penelope put her hands on her hips while sighing at the knowledge while Josie rolled her eyes.  
  
Well, this was going to be one hell of a year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of changed a ton of things regarding this fic, cause I decided to come back to writing and so if you're new to this fic, it's a good thing you started reading now. If you read this fic before you might recognize it or maybe not, changed the title and chapter names and some contents.


	2. Narcissist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josie realizes something about Hope and Lizzies relationship 
> 
> Penelope is just bored

Work has been a burden for Josie, she doesn’t like it mainly due to Penelope’s behavior.

University was starting in a couple of days, and she was doing her usual morning shift with Penelope when the raven-haired girl decided to ignore her every time she inquired about where she was supposed to file papers. So Josie ended up blowing up at her with all the stress. 

“Do you not have any sense of human decency ?!” Josie expressed irritatingly. 

Penelope gave her the usual cold stare, but this time she actually replied to her. 

“I don’t like to interact with people I don’t vibe with.” She said, shrugging Josie off. 

What’s up with this girl? She either disregarded Josie completely or gave her hurtful comments here and there. 

“Whatever, I don’t have time for you to make my day even worse,” Josie replied, taking her bundle of papers to her desk, while Penelope had her legs up on her own desk playing with a strand of her wavy hair. 

Just when Penelope was about to say another sarcastic comment to aggravate Josie, Hope came strolling into the empty library. 

“Josie...come on, let’s go out.” Hope stated, Penelope observed her, she looked familiar, and Hope hadn’t noticed her presence at first. 

“Oh, it’s you...” Hope said casually, turning her attention from Josie to the raven-haired woman. 

“Did you have fun with Maya ?” Penelope remarked, still playing with her hair as she rose her brows up curiously. 

“Well, up until you decided to walk in,” Hope said, giving her a weak smile. 

Josie was just baffled, were Hope and Lizzie monogamous? Or did they have some sort of open relationship? 

She made a mental note to ask both Lizzie and Hope respectively on the matter. 

“What can I say? I have a specialty of appearing out of smoke.” Penelope said sarcastically, giving her usual flair while doing so by raising her brows slightly and widening her eyes to reveal more of her green eyes.

While Josie, who wasn’t part of the conversation, she huffed at the statement because it couldn’t be more accurate. Everywhere Josie went about in her apartment complex, Penelope had been there, even that one time she went out to buy books from this cute store from Brooklyn Penelope Park had been there, giving her that snarky smile. 

“Got anything to comment on, Josette ?” Penelope said in reply to Josie’s huff. 

“God, you are so fucking irritating !” Josie remarked while Hope looked between the two amusingly. 

“Didn’t you two end up fucking or what ?” Hope commented randomly. 

“Absolutely not.” “Soon.”

The two of them said over one another, and Hope smirked mischievously at them. Penelope gave off her usual attitude, a mix between sarcastic flirtations and dryness. 

Hope refrained from making an inappropriate comment and decided to circle back to her initial question,

“Anyways, Josie, let’s go...”

“I can’t exactly just up and leave Hope,” Josie said, taking a seat on her desk as she went through the papers in her hands. 

“Too bad... let us go.” Hope pressed on, while Penelope looked at the two curious ones where the interaction was going to go, Josie seemed like such a goody-two-shoes, she had a hunch the brunette wouldn’t leave, and Josie could sense it radiating off of Penelope. 

“Tell you what... let’s go whatever.” Josie stood up abruptly, taking her purse as Penelope’s brows shot up in surprise. 

“Got any objections ?” Josie said, turning to Penelope one last time. 

“None, go about your day Josette.” Penelope replies, not caring. 

Josie hated how Penelope said her name that way, it aggravated her. As if it was a way that showed that Penelope was superior, or above her by using her name formally.

Josie and Hope had gone to Central Park, strolling around and talking about the classes they registered for this semester. Until Josie gave Hope a suspicious look.

“What ?” Hope said, rolling her eyes at Josie’s demeanor. 

“What’s the label on you and Lizzies’ relationship ?” Josie asked, trying to converse about the topic lightly. 

“Lizzie is still experiencing her sexuality, we are together, but she wants to still be open to discovering what she wants and likes.” Hope explained casually. 

“And that doesn’t make you jealous ?” Josie tried to understand. 

“I mean...it depends, they haven’t been emotional so no...but with Maya, she seemed to click with her.” Hope shrugged, trying not to put too much weight on the topic. 

“Okay...did  _ you _ ...’ click’ with Maya ?” Josie continued to interrogate lightly. 

The fact that Hope had to think for a second about the question made Josie hesitant. 

“I mean, we hung out with her again this week, but it was more friendly, and I can see the appeal.” Hope revealed. 

“Okay...but did you talk to Lizzie about this ?” 

“She said that it would be only fair for our relationship to be open from both sides.” 

Josie put both her hands on Hopes shoulders to grab her attention, Hope had an unreadable expression on her face, a mixture of giddiness and confusion. 

“Hope if you aren’t happy or content with your relationship with Lizzie, you need to tell her.” Josie stated directly. 

“You’ve been through enough heartbreak and turmoil if you don’t want to be strung along, tell her.” Josie continued, and Hope gave her a weak smile. 

“I know Josie... it’s just what Lizzie and I have it feels different, but I’m not sure yet, so I can’t let it go yet, so this opportunity of having an open relationship might be good for both of us.” Hope began to justify. 

“What if one of you gets hurt ?” Josie pointed out. 

“Then we weren’t bound for one another.” She replied simply. 

Maya had entered her apartment and waved at Penelope, who had been seated on their sofa. She was about to head to her room when Penelope decided to open a conversation up with her before she was out of sight. 

“I saw one-third of your threesome today.” Penelope said indifferently, resting her head on her hand as she gave Maya a playful glance and a sly smirk. 

“The blonde or the redhead ?” Maya asked curiously, wondering if Penelope ran into her favorite of the two. 

“The redhead,” Penelope said with a mischievous smile as Maya came jumping on the couch next to her. Hope was the one who had caught her eye, but she didn’t know what was up with that couple. 

“And ?” Maya hinted at Penelope to continue. 

“She came over to see Josett-“Penelope was explaining when Maya interjected. 

“Josie, yah, what about her ?” Maya asked giddily. 

“Yeah, they just went out. She basically ditched work for Hope.” 

“Penelope...we need to go out with them.” Maya said abruptly. Receiving a dumbfounded expression from Penelope. 

“How about we don't?” 

“Look, we tell them about the group outing at my brother Ethan's party this Friday it will be with some other friends, you and me, Josie and Hope. You’ll have Josie to distract you while I get to spend time with Hope.” Maya suggested awaiting Penelope’s reply. 

“Absolutely not Maya, I can’t stand that girl,” Penelope replied. 

“Oh, come on...do it for me, and hey, I know how much you love getting a rise out of Josie.” Maya tried to convince her. 

“A hundred dollars and I’ll think about it.” Penelope countered. Maya gave her an exaggerated sigh before laying her head on her lap, looking up at her. 

“How about takeout from P.F Chang’s, so you don't burn our kitchen down, like last time.” Maya negotiated. 

“Done.” 

* * *

Hope agreed to go out with Maya, but she wasn’t going without Josie. 

“I’m not going if Satan is there, you can’t change my mind.” Josie said.

“Josie... it’s not going to end up with anyone hooking up, we are just going to hang out at her brothers get together, there is no harm in that.” Hope remarked while Josie gave her a groan. 

“Penelope is going to bother me the whole night through...I can’t stand her presence. I have to deal with seeing her at work and in my building...no thanks.” Josie states, finally. 

“What can I do to convince you to change your mind, there has to be something.” 

“Only if you get me a new phone,” Josie said sarcastically. 

“Done.” Hope replied seriously.


	3. A Change Of Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with a longer chapter and I edited somethings out.  
Im attempting to change the tone of the fic so let me know if you like it or not  
Also Tell me if u would like to read another chapter. I don't know if I should continue with this or not so yah

Ethan's party was filled with fragmented memories, Josie remembers drinking, dancing, and Hope conversing with Maya. She walks up in the middle of the night, to what looks like to be her apartment, she can't really tell due to the darkness. She shuffles a bit before going back to sleep and being awakened by the sheer blinding lights peeking from the window facing her.

  
  
She sits up straight, laying her face in the palm of her hands and huffing at the painful headache. She takes a moment to look around only to be startled, almost jumping out of bed from surprise once she notices a naked body lying next to her...

  
  
She can't make out who it is, and so she peers over the figure only to be met with green eyes looking back at her.

  
  
Josie's eyes widen in shock, and her throat seems to get stuck, unable to form any words...

"Well, this is something." Josie thinks dazed, not in the mood to deal with the repercussions of last night. However, the raven-haired girl seems to be more than happy to tease the brunette.

Penelope turns entirely towards Josie before giving her a mischievous smile,

"Are you down for round...twelve? I think we stopped at eleven yesterday, I honestly can't remember," she says casually, with a hint of smugness. Josie furrows her brows towards her, clearly unamused. 

"I don't know what happened, and frankly, I don't wanna know...but I'd appreciate it if you left my apartment," Josie replies dryly, giving Penelope a glare.

Penelope simply laughs at her, and she goes on to do so for a while. Josie is more than bothered now, and she isn't usually the type of girl to get mad or angry at someone, she is known for being polite and friendly. Yet, after meeting Penelope a switch went off, the raven-haired girl has been nothing but rude and disrespectful towards her, and Josie was just not having it. Just because this woman was gorgeous doesn't mean she can walk all over people. Josie didn't think she was beautiful...and now shes overthinki-

  
  
"Oh honey, this isn't your apartment, it's mine...so I'm going to have to ask _you_ to kindly leave." Penelope retorts with a triumphant glint in her eye.

  
  
Josie halts and takes a moment to look around once again. The room is coated in purple paint, a desk and bookshelf overflowing in books, and walls filled with posters of random artists ranging from Nirvana, The 1975 to...Dolly Parton? 

Suddenly as if she had slapped across the face, a rush of memories hit her. All the events that took place at the party coming back. 

The way she was dancing with a stranger, now realizing its Penelope, then the way she had dragged the raven-haired girl out of the party and eagerly making out with her outside. At the same time, they waited for a ride back to Penelope's and how they continued to feel one another up until they had reached the other girl's room.

She looks down at her own figure notices that she too is naked, at that her cheeks coat red, more than sure that Penelope can tell that she's blushing at the realization.

"I..." Josie attempts to utter, but she's currently too dumbfounded.

"Listen, I know I can leave people a bit speechless here and there, but are you going to leave or ?" Penelope questions conceitedly.

"Well, if you could just turn around, I could change and get out of here." Josie rotates her finger as if to motion for the other girl to look away.

"You didn't seem to have a problem last night with me taking your clo-" 

"Yeah yeah, come up with something new." Josie cuts her off displeasingly. Penelope, on the other hand, is just getting more and more amused, Josie can tell by the way her eyes widen, and her brow rises higher at the comment, while that annoying signature smirk of hers reappears on display.

They look at one another, Josie distinctly awaiting Penelope to turn around, and she gives her a look that's telling as if motioning, "are you going to turn around or what ?".

  
Penelope eventually puts a stop to the long dragged silence, rolling her eyes before speaking up.

"Fine, whatever," Penelope says plainly, getting out of bed, fully naked, putting on her sweatpants.

Josie was taken aback, but can you really blame her for staring?

She takes in the other girl, and something seems to break within her because she feels this rush of heat vibrating throughout her body, and before she realizes what she's doing, she is suddenly grabbing the raven-haired girl arm. Making her fall onto the bed once again before connecting their lips with a searing kiss.

The kiss isn't pleasant, it's hasty and urging like Josie needs to get her frustrations out by making-out with the raven-haired girl and sleeping with her just to get rid of this tension she feels throughout her body.

Penelope was clearly shocked by the action at first before she eventually succumbs into it, wrapping her legs around Josie, edging her further into the kiss as if it were possible.

Josie feels the roughness but, at the same time, notices just how soft the other girl's lips are, and suddenly the physicality of specific moments from their rendevous the previous night slams her like a flashback.

They kiss deeper and deeper until Penelope switches them over still locked in a kiss, while Josie lets out a needy moan at the action.

She hates to admit it, but she's getting increasingly more turned on, and she just wants to get rid of the tension. That's when she grabs Penelope's hand and drifts it lower.  
Penelope backs up from the kiss just a slight distance before rising her brow teasingly and smirking knowingly. She slowly does what Josie gestured for her to do and what follows is a multitude of groans and whimpers from both of them before Josie is lying on the bed breathless, and Penelope is left in a reflected state.

* * *

  
Josie spent the next week still confused about the events that took place, she had been going to work (avoiding a certain raven-haired girl). She's been staying out of everyone's way actually, with the first week of the semester starting up, she's been heading to classes, and keeping up with readings at night.

However, one day she walked into the lobby, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a familiar figure, and it seemed like she had been talking and smiling at the receptionist. The moment Josie had stepped into the revolving doors and took notice of the raven-haired girl, she quickly pushed the door to move even faster before heading the same way she came in, opting to go over to Hope's place to pass some time.

Eventually, she starts coming to Hope's home often that Hope begins to question her about it.

"Not that I'm complaining or anything, but what's up with you popping in at random ?"

Josie runs her fingers through her hair before biting her bottom lip nervously, Hope eyes her curiously now interested in knowing the actual reasons behind her random visits.

"I just get bored alone, thought I'd just hang out with my best friend," Josie replies uneasily, her eyes bouncing across the room, anywhere but at Hope's knowing gaze.

"Liar."

  
  
Hope stands up and plops herself next to Josie on the couch before lightly pushing her like a child. 

  
"Jooosieee," Hope says her name with a melody, smiling bashfully, riling Josie up with nerves.

"I...I'm avoiding that witch, for some reason every time I'm trying to make my way home, she's at the receptionist's desk flirting with her or god knows what." Josie rolls her eyes.

"Oh, is this about you ignoring her because you slept with her ?" Hope replies knowingly, only to be met with Josie's confused expression.

"What?! No..."

"Josie, you practically dragged that girl out of Ethan's party like you were on a mission." 

Hope begins to giggle silently at the glare she was currently receiving from Josie, with one hand hiding her mouth, while the other held onto her mug filled with tea. When Josie is at the receiving end of a confrontation, she does what she knows best, she deflects.

  
  
"Well technically I was, now where's that new phone I was promised ?"  
  
"You know, I don't think I've ever complimented your sense of humor before," Hope replied, sarcastically eyeing Josie do go back to the subject at hand.

"Listen, it isn't going to happen again, it was a one night stand, it relieved a lot of tension actually, and that's that," Josie remarked with newfound confidence all of a sudden.

"Then why are you avoiding her?" Hope said rhetorically, biting her lip to stop another laugh from spilling out of her.

Why was Josie avoiding her?

  
Penelope clearly wasn't interested, and neither was she, they both can't stand each other. They had sex mainly out of convenience, and honestly, it was a much-needed release.

Hope was right, Josie frankly doesn't care she's giving this more significance, and for what?

  
At the end of the week, Josie sees Penelope at work, while usually, she has been staying out of her presence this time around she couldn't give a fuck. So when she struts into the library and Penelope ignores her, she is more than relieved. That's until she feels goosebumps along her neck due to someone's breath and close proximity.  
Josie hurriedly turns around only to look down at the other girl and be met with a swarm of green accompanied by soft features occupying her vision.

"Josette, you need to go over those files I left on your desk," Penelope says, giving Josie a stoic expression.

"Yeah, okay, later," Josie replies absentmindedly before heading to the back of the bookstore shuffling around some random books.

While her job might've been a bore, the library itself was gorgeous, it had an antic cozy feel to it, and Josie always appreciated good books that were being well kept. This place was at the top of its game when it came to those assortments. It was quiet and relaxing, and people were oddly friendly, and the decorations were just exquisite. It had this timeless aura to it.

What she didn't understand, though, was how a girl like Penelope Park ended up working at a place like this; she clearly didn't seem like the type.

  
Although from the mass of books she had all over her room, maybe she was? Why is Josie putting so much thought into this? 

The moment Josie turned the corner there she was, speak of the devil, Josie thought.

Josie continued to ignore her while Penelope inched closer, Josie wasn't nervous at all, why would she be, she just couldn't stand her presence.

"You know it's rude to ignore your co-workers." 

Penelope now leaned on a bookshelf, watching Josie as she went about placing books and removing others while she put them on a cart.

"Thanks for enlightening me." Josie huffs, and she goes about her task.

Why was she trying to strike up a conversation with her, couldn't she tell that Josie didn't want to interact with her. It's like whenever the shorter girl was around her, it made her just tense up and get mad, from absolutely nothing. No, actually, it was most probably because she was so irritating. Josie loves children, but when interacting with the other girl, she genuinely feels like she's trying to get a middle-schooler to stop whining.

Out of curiosity, Josie turns around to see if the girl was still there, and there she was with her cocky grin, that Josie just wanted to smack away. The other thing she took notice of was the way Penelope's eyes drifted along her body. Once Penelope's gaze reached her face, she was met with Josie's displeased expression, to which the other girl shrugged off.

"I have a proposition that I happen to think you'd accept," Penelope remarked casually as she now leaned her elbows at the cart's handles.

"And what would that be, Lilith?" Josie furrowed her brows, while Penelope giggled at the comment. 

Why did her giggle have a musical ring to it?

Josie shook those thoughts away as she brought her focus back on Penelope.

Penelope now walked over to Josie, replying to her while she randomly decided to fix her collar for some reason as she flattened the creases along Josie's shoulders.

"We both know that we aren't necessarily fond of one another..." She says, moving on to pluck one of the yarns that peaked out of Josie's shirt.

"Nevertheless, I think a certain understanding between each other...that may or may not include certain physical activities, could prove to be quite a calming asset for both of us." Penelope continued while one of her fingers snuck their way to Josie's belt hoops inching the brunette closer to her.

Josie's eyes darted at the girl's complexion, while her throat felt dryer suddenly. It took her a split second to realize what was going on, and she fixed her posture before coming back to her senses. She held onto Penelope's waist tightly, the other girl has her seductive expression now replaced by a surprised one before Josie has their bodies pressed up against one another.

"If this arrangement involves keeping that mouth shut, then maybe I'd consider it." Josie retorted, switching the playing field since she was the one wearing a mischievous smile this time around.

* * *

  
Like most casual, and no strings attached relationships, Josie had built a form of routine with Penelope that extended for a good four weeks. It all started on that day in the library.

They hastily went to one of the rooms, which included worn out or ruined books.

  
Penelope pushed Josie up against one of the walls, nibbling along her neck, coaxing a range of reactions to come spiraling out of Josie. She hated how Penelope could easily make her succumb to her needed desires. Josie wanted to be touched and just ravaged, she's only human.

  
Penelope held onto the back of Josie's legs as the brunette now wrapped her legs around Penelope's waist as the raven-haired girl's fingers sunk deeper into her, making her come undone rather quickly. Josie swallowed the embarrassment and shrugged it away before turning them, and taking matters into her own hands. She is starting to notice the fact she likes taking over Penelope's dominance because it's a form of proving their power over one another.

Penelope's pupils darken at the action, and she plasters a wicked smile upon her mouth before breathlessly whispering next to Josie's ear.

"What do you intend to do?" She challenged.

  
Josie didn't need to reply, she cupped one of her breasts before lowering herself while keeping her hungry gaze directed towards Penelope's eyesight, before getting Penelope's head to fall back as she grunted and began to increasingly moan.

It did serve its benefits; Josie can't lie. Afterward, they went back to work, and Josie could feel as though she had taken the edge off like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. This was quite an excellent stress relief she had to admit. Even though it was Penelope Park on the other end of things.

And that's how things continued on, with late-night rendezvous explicitly at Penelope's place, while at other times hooking up at work (although highly unprofessional, it was the most satisfying).

It was around the sixth week that things turned into a weird direction.

Josie had finished from her last morning class, only to check her phone and realize she is being bombarded by a numerous amount of texts from Lizzie. All texts had been in caps, with Lizzie asking about Josie's whereabouts when she'd be done with class, and that this was important. It's been years since Lizzie had specifically claimed meaningless things to be of importance, so Josie knew this had to be necessary.

She swiftly dialed Lizzie's number and waited for a few beats before Lizzie picked up.  
  
"Josie Saltzman, you have some explaining to do," Lizzie said, without any form of greeting.

"Hey Lizzie, How was your day today? You know when people usually answer a phone call, the nice thing to do is ask about their wellbeing." Josie replied tiredly, she had just gone through a two-hour lecture with her most insufferable professor, she couldn't deal with her sister's theatrics at the moment.

"Someone's grumpy, maybe you should call your booty call and get that chip off your shoulder, Jesus. Anyways, how come you didn't tell me about Landon's engagement ?" Lizzie asked carefully; by her tone, it seemed like either this was a delicate subject Josie didn't want to talk about or Josie didn't know, and she was informing her politely.

"Um, Didn't seem important, Why ?" Josie asked distractingly.

Mid-way through the call. Brown eyes landed on the infamous Penelope Park, walking around campus like she owned the place, oozing confidence. Wearing black on black, with a short-sleeved shirt and a long silver necklace hanging from her neck. 

How did she do that without any effort? 

And why was Penelope in her university?

She looked away before she was caught, proceeding with her conversation.

"Oh...He just sent Hope and me an invitation to the wedding, that's why." Lizzie explained thoroughly, before adding on.

"I'm sure Landon being Landon sent you one too."

Josie wouldn't be surprised, even though they had their fair share of problems, they were always good friends since, to be frank, they never were really 'in love', and considering Landon was oddly the type of guy to remain friends with his exes, it's no shocker he'd invite both Hope and Josie.

"Wouldn't doubt it, who's the lucky lady ?" Josie replies, her eyes scanning her surroundings once again before her heart began to pound with anxiety once she realized an approaching figure.

"Finally, here's the kicker. It's Jed." Lizzie marks and Josie can tell Lizzie is wearing a massive smile on her face.  
  
Josie rolled her eyes, but of course, this was a long-time coming, not an earth-shattering revelation at all, weirdly she's pleased for Landon.

"At least he finally came to his senses and realized, took him only all of high school, and most of college." Josie retorted with a small laugh.

"Don't we know it, I'll see you later?" 

"Where are we meeting up again ?" Josie question, While the figure now inched closer towards her.

"Manhattan, I'll send you the location, good-bye, sweet sister." Lizzie ended the call, right when Penelope stood in front of Josie.

Penelope tilted her head to the side as if analyzing the brunette. She had a twinkle in her eye and an uncharacteristically genuine smile.

  
"Josie Saltzman, Have the tables turned? Because I thought I was the one who's meant to appear out of thin air." She interrogated sarcastically.

  
"Penelope Park, Satan incarnated, Queen of the Underworld, to what do I owe this displeasure?" Josie retorted, but in a more uninterested manner.

  
Penelope seemed to be enjoying the conversation, she was smiling, and the way her cheeks seemed to rise...

  
Why did she look like a turtle?

  
"Believe It or not, I have a life, which doesn't only involve me getting under the sheets with the so-called 'enemy' and working at a library." Penelope shot back, but unlike the other times, she usually threw comments at Josie, this time it seemed light-hearted rather than plain out mean, or rude.

  
"Odd, I thought you just liked sucking people's souls like a sorceress, So what do you major in exactly?" 

  
  
Josie didn't care about Penelope's major, she didn't want to get to know her, and did she mention how she didn't care?

but since Penelope decided to play nice for once, she decided that she could entertain this conversation for a bit longer. She didn't have a reason not to so,

  
  
Why the fuck not?

  
  
Her ex/close friend was getting married, it was a beautiful chilly day, a Friday to be specific, and she wasn't in the mood to get riled up because of how her conversations with Penelope usually ended.

  
  
"Literature, and a minor in music." 

  
Penelope was clearly looking at the reaction she was going to get from Josie, and what she got was an amused expression that then turned into a more understanding one.

  
"Hmm, actually, that makes a lot of sense." Josie pondered for a moment.

  
"Why is that ?" Penelope quirked her brow curiously, she was obviously getting some sort of thrill out of this, for some reason.

  
"You work at a library, had an odd collection of books ranging from 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' to 'Pride and Prejudice.' Also, your music taste is pretty random, I mean Nirvana and Dolly Parton, those are entirely different genre's," Josie said, thinking out loud, she kind of connected the dots at the moment. They just happened to fall out of her mouth.

  
Penelope stared at her blankly for a second, she seemed to be startled by the admission, before putting on an amused face.

  
"Someone's observant...But I mean from what I can gather." Penelope said as she gestured at Josie before continuing.

  
"You're a Psych major?"  
  
Josie doesn't precisely know what prompted her to do what she did next, but she let out the biggest laugh. Penelope gave her an entertained expression before putting her hands on her hips in an attempt to seem cool, but the way her face seemed to twitch slightly exposed the fact she was trying not to laugh too.  
  
"Oh no, If anything, I'm the one in need of a therapist."   
  
Penelope's expression changed at that, Josie couldn't quite determine whether Penelope's face softened or seemed to be more one of questioning. Nevertheless, Josie ignored it and jumped back into the conversation after a beat.

  
  
"I major in Social Work."

  
"Well, yeah, not surprised there, actually."

  
It was Josie's turn to tilt her head questioningly this time around. As if signaling to Penelope to explain how she came to that assumption.  
  
"I don't know, you seem kind of-I don't know, maybe a bit too selfless, the way you just dropped work that one time, just because Hope repeatedly asked you to, I don't know."  
  
It was kind of odd seeing Penelope nervous or out of place for once. She seemed to lose her confidant demeanor in a split of a second, and before Josie could even take a moment to appreciate it, her confidant side came back up.  
  
"I don't think that exactly qualifies explicitly for a certain major." Josie suddenly shot back.  
  
And she outwardly winced at that, she decided to suck it up and be mature for once and apologize for the slight outburst, but before saying anything, she was cut off by Penelope waving her off.

  
  
"Don't apologize, you're right," Penelope smirked mischievously at her own rebuttal as if she read Josie's mind, she really was a witch.

  
"However, I'm kind of famished, and broke, so maybe I'd feel like your 'non-apology' would be more well-received if you bought me a sandwich on our way back." Penelope then inched even closer to Josie, lowering her voice as people walked by them before putting on a more flirtatious tone.

  
"And perhaps that way, I could thank you in other ways ?"

  
  
Josie inhaled sharply at that, while Penelope eyed her awaiting her response. Josie thought it over, she hadn't been mainly in a bad mood today, and she didn't feel like she needed to fuck the stress away, but she did enjoy having her needs met, and since Penelope was offering at the moment...

  
  
She shrugged and nodded before both of them walked side by side and headed towards some place Penelope suggested. 

* * *

  
What would someone talk to Penelope about in a standard-setting?

For some random purpose, Penelope decided to opt-out to having them go somewhere, which involved them having to sit down, the way friends did when they went out to eat, and hang out.

Josie remained silent, she didn't seem to have any conversation starter, or to be blunter with herself, she just didn't feel like she should bother with making small talk with Penelope. The girl seated on the opposite side of the booth seemed to be more than delighted to mess with Josie here and there. Yet, it was in a more intriguing way than it usually was.

"So why, Josette? Pretty ancient name, don't you think?" Penelope began the conversation like it was some ping-pong match.

Josie was thrown off by this simple question, Penelope is oblivious to the reasonings behind it. Still, I mean by now everyone knew the story behind Josie's parentage and family dynamics.

"My mother's," Josie said, merely hoping for the conversation to die out or wither.

"Look at you guys, breaking the patriarchy and shit, so original..." Penelope replied with light-hearted sarcasm, and Josie wouldn't have taken it to heart, but It's Penelope being all poise, calm and charming for some peculiar reason.

"Well, anything is better than some basic name like Penelope, am I right ?" Josie replied coldly while rolling her eyes.

Penelope doesn't seem to be fazed though, she narrows her eyes at Josie, halfway through digging into her sandwich which Josie is going to be paying for. Josie decided to order a cup of coffee, it was around one in the afternoon, but she sensed like she'll need it if she was going to get through this conversation. Although the diner Penelope picked out was pleasant, especially with it being in the middle of a crowded city, Josie was not use to this much traffic and commotion, even though she previously resided in a city.

Josie fazed out for second admiring her surroundings before her eyes went back to Penelope, and there she was again analyzing her like she's some sort of test subject.

"I struck a cord, didn't I, something revolving your mother..." Penelope spoke up with no filter, but she seemed to have that soft curve around her eyes.

Josie would have mistaken it for pity at first, but it seemed to be more close to comprehension.

Josie cleared her throat before folding her arms in front of her chest, like its some sort of armor.  
  
She didn't sign up to have a personal conversation with Pene-

Actually, the real question here is:

  


Why is Penelope actually trying to have a civil conversation with her?

  


Josie kept her suspicions in her head before nodding at Penelope.

"Sorry about that..." Penelope outwardly cringed at that widening her eyes without Josie noticing (but she did), before taking another bite out of her sandwich.

For someone as pretty as Penelope, and there was no denying it, Josie can't lie to herself when it comes to that. Penelope doesn't seem to know how to take a proper bite off her big sandwich without sauce splattering all over her hands and fingers.

Josie laughed inwardly at that for a few seconds before she felt terrible.

"Penelope don't hold the sandwich like that, eat it from the side." Josie sighs with a faint smile at her face.

"What do you mean from the side? How do people eat a sandwich from the side?" Penelope retorted clearly, having a hard time. 

An odd thing for someone usually so well composed to get bothered over how to eat a sandwich.

"As in taking a bite off the sandwich from the side, that way, the contents don't fall off." Josie actually attempts to explain.

Penelope looks at her for a beat, her cheeks stuffed with food before she swallows it and replies.

"Josie, I don't know what the fuck you're on about, but I'm willing to cooperate so, please...show me." 

She pushed the tray towards Josie with the sandwich lying on top of it.

"No, you basically devoured it, and I'm not eating after you." Josie concludes, only to have Penelope giving her a look that just says, "Are you fucking serious right now?"

It's odd how Josie seems to just know what Penelope's looks mean.

"Do you want me to remind you that we have basically done worse than eating after one another, I mean we basically ate one another o-" Penelope is cut off from her rumbling when Josie, kicks her under the table.

"Hey, don't be grotesque right now," Josie replied back while Penelope openly winces at Josie's kick.

Penelope takes a moment before shaking it off. She puts on her stoic face once again before pointing at Josie to take a bite. Josie rolls her eyes and obliges, even though she really didn't want to, but she couldn't handle any other comments coming out of Penelope's mouth regarding their...

"Oh, okay, see now it makes more sense, you could've just explained it better," Penelope states unimpressed.

Did she think there was some grand gesture to eating a sandwich or what?

However, she never saw Penelope this playful before, it was enchanting for some reason, Josie couldn't quite put a finger on it, but there was something about it.

Josie didn't even notice, but it seemed like Penelope had left the table to wash her hands, and once she returned, she abruptly spoke next to Josie.

"Sorry to cut off your daydreaming, Josie, but I'm hoping some of those thoughts can be turned into reality, so let's head back to my place." Penelope orders, picking up her bag from the booth before walking out of the diner.

Josie comes rushing behind her before slightly bumping into her, and grabbing her shoulder to turn her around.

"We didn't pay, where do you think you're going ?" Josie questions hurriedly as if they are about to get into some sort of trouble.

"Yeah, I covered it, next time it's on you," Penelope said before crossing the road, and Josie followed behind.

Calling Josie confused at this moment would be an understatement.  
  
Who said there was going to be a next time? 

* * *

  
The weather gradually started to get colder, and the end of the semester was fast approaching. Josie decided to skip all her classes in the middle of the week to just take some time for herself. Between work and school, things have gotten pretty hectic. Not to mention she was juggling her semi-social life as well as attempting to have time for herself. With the reading period coming up, Josie feeling exhausted would be an understatement.

So when the doorbell rang, she groaned loudly at the noise, hoping that whoever it was would just fade away she remained on her bed only for the ringing to grow louder and more consistent.

Whoever was on the other side of that door was seriously asking for a deathwish, and they better believe that's what they were gonna get.

She should've been a bit nicer with her previous comment because what she finds on the other side is a broken down Hope Mikaelson. She had to get rid of the initial shock that was plastered on her face because the last time she saw Hope, this distraught had been when Klaus died.

Before Josie could form any coherent words, Hope is hiding her face in Josie's chest, clearly disheveled and crying. She hugs her back and begins to rub soothing circles along her back.

  
After a good fifteen minutes, Hope wipes her tears away, takes a deep breath, sits upright as if willing herself out of her rut. The sad truth was Hope has gone through enough painful moments in her life, for her to repeatedly have to pick herself back up.

"Lizzie broke up with me." 

Josie's eyes widened, and she didn't know what to say, but she comforted Hope a bit more before the redhead continued on.

"Obviously, the whole open relationship thing didn't work, and we decided to take some time apart, but we decided to keep things civil for the wedding and for you." 

Josie nodded understandably, she wonders how Lizzie is fairing, she is sure her sister is just as upset. Josie doesn't know every detail revolving around their relationship. Still, she could tell when Lizzie actually cared for someone, however recently, there might've been a shift, now that she was thinking about it.

They decided to put on a random movie until Hope eventually dosed to sleep on Josie's bed. She took this chance to leave the bedroom for a moment, heading out to the hallway outside of her apartment, for some privacy since she was going to call Lizzie.

She waited for Lizzie to pick up her phone, but it went straight to voicemail. Instead, she sent her sister a message asking how she was, and if she needed to talk.

Heartbreak was always a hard thing, and Josie understood it too well. Her past relationships have been either like Landon's, where they haven't held much significance or gut-wrenching and heart-aching. The truth of the matter is Josie lied about why she had genuinely moved into the city, it wasn't over Landon, but her sister and Best-friend didn't need to know that. She cherished the fact that she was the only person who knew, even though it just pained her and sucked the life out of her sometimes.

Jade Montgomery, always knew how to drain all of the good things away, but she couldn't blame her. It's been around a year since then, yet she still couldn't hate the other girl, or fault her because she understood where she came from. Jade had a hard upbringing and her own demons to fight, and wouldn't allow Josie to be dragged into it. She claimed it was her own battle to fight, and she wasn't going to be replacing one form of addiction with another, besides at the end of the day, Jade pushed Josie to go for what she wanted in her life.

  
She didn't want Josie to be a shoulder she had to lean on because, in her own words, "I love you too much to put you through more bullshit."

And so she decided maybe she would go live her life, and she thought a change would be more beneficial. Except for that teasing raven-haired girl who is all of a sudden within her peripheral vision.

"Are you going to get into your apartment, or are you going to continue to hover over it awkwardly ?" 

That damn snark, Josie wasn't in the mood for it, she had just spent the past hour or two consoling Hope's heartbreak, only to have that remind her of her own.  
  
"Tell you what, How about you just head into your apartment and mind your business? We aren't friends, Penelope." Josie shot back pointedly, and the optimistic expression on Penelope's face, washed away to reveal...

Was that hurt Josie had just seen?

To be fair, after they had hung out at the diner, they have been more...well-mannered with one another, there was the occasional back and forth, but it didn't carry any real sharpness.

Josie had just noticed how Penelope seemed to still be shivering from the outdoor cold air. She probably should give her a jacket before she gets a cold,  
actually no, she wasn't going to do that, that was a random thought caused by Josie's good trait, and she was going to ignore it.

"Well, it doesn't matter what we are, and believe it or not, I'm not this 'villain' you make me out to be. So how about we disregard our hatred for one another for this brief period of time, while we both cheer each other up in the process. Cause I'm not in a good mood either, and you kind of owe me a meal." Penelope lifted her chin a bit and rose both of her brows as a way to highlight the later part more promptly.

There she went again, trying to make Josie like her, she needed to stop with that, and she needed to stop Josie's rising heartbeat because something was clearly wrong. 

  
Josie should say no, but she knew if she stayed home, she would end up wallowing in her own sorrows, and she needed to be a bit optimistic for Hope. Though Hope's condition at the moment is the reason, all these past wounds seemed to be opening up again.

  
After Penelope changed into something warmer and grabbed a jacket, Josie left a note for Hope in case she woke up telling her she needed to go clear her head, and she'd be back soon.

  
They just walked around the city silently; Josie took in the bright shiny lights when she looked over at Penelope, thinking she was doing the same thing. She was taken aback when she saw the green-eyed girl looking at her instead.

  
"What?" Josie asked indifferently.

  
"Nothing, it's just interesting how you're enamored by the city, you always seem to drift off appreciating it," Penelope explained before shrugging it off like it didn't mean anything. 

  
"Yeah, well, it's a beautiful city."

  
"It's dirty and crowded, Not saying that it isn't nice, it does have its own character," 

  
"Isn't that the purpose of cities, they stand out in their own ways," Josie replied, enjoying the small talk.

  
"I'd rather live in isolation." Penelope retorted simply, and there wasn't any menace behind it, she seemed to bring up her own opinion on the matter.

  
Josie tilted her head at that though, Penelope was clearly a very outgoing city girl, and even though she can seem like a cold-hearted bitch, she was smart.

  
When they would have their shifts at the library, everyone knew Penelope, they always came to her when they wanted book recommendations, or any help writing things up. At one point, she caught her hosting book clubs for several age groups.

  
"What you find that surprising, Miss Saltzman ?" Penelope asked on, noticing the way Josie had been deep in thought.

  
"A city girl, who seems to have everyone wrapped around her finger like some sort of enchantress wants to live alone? Those are two opposing principles, don't you think?"   
Penelope let out a soft giggled at that, before stopping all together facing Josie entirely. Josie's stomach uncharacteristically turned with nerves. She believes it was from nervousness, not any other ulterior reasons.

  
"If you grew up in the city, you tend to somehow know everyone. Especially when you spent most of your life bouncing from one part of the city to the other, after a while, it gets somewhat repetitive and chaotic." Penelope explained thoroughly, but there was a hint of despair in her eyes.

  
Another new thing Josie had to add to the mental list of Penelope, that she kept in the back of her mind.

  
The conversation ended, and they walked for a few blocks before they reached Central Park.

  
Other than her first time going with Hope to this park, Lizzie had taken Josie here multiple times, especially when she didn't have any classes in the morning, Lizzie would bolt into her apartment wake her up and force Josie on a morning jog around the park with her.

  
"Why did you seem upset earlier ?" Penelope questioned abruptly while scratching the back of her head.

  
It was clear that she had been thinking the question over on their walk here because it seemed like she had been anxiously fidgetting.

  
It was refreshing having these small, unplanned events with Penelope because it would remove another layer of the enigma that was Penelope Park.

  
Josie didn't want to get into it, but Penelope didn't know her, So talking about it would allow Josie to let it out without having it be a recurring thing. With Hope, Lizzie, Landon, and MG, they would try to help her through it or continuously ask her about it. Yet, with Penelope, she'd barely have to talk about it because they usually never speak about personal issues; they just fuck it out.

  
But Josie wouldn't miss a chance to question the other girl about it.

  
"Why do you care?" Josie replied dismissively,

  
Penelope huffed in annoyance, and it was unexpected, she thought the other girl would maybe just ignore her and let it go.

  
"You clearly have some pent up issues, you like keeping them hidden, and I guess we have that in common,"

  
Josie's eyes widen in surprise, she wasn't sure she'd be receiving an honest admission back. She also knew Penelope wasn't as heartless as she first thought she had been, but it was different for her to admit they had a 'common' factor between one another. Josie was even more curious now. 

  
They walked next to the lake, it illuminated the moon, which hung above them, while the sound of the wind roared around them.

  
"Do tell," Josie remarked, trying to come off casual, and she seemed to get away with it.

  
"I would, only if this is a give and take situation," Penelope said, wiggling her brows playfully, with a hint of innuendo with her comment.

  
A bit bizarre because Josie had a random thought which signaled that the two may have more than one thing in common, Penelope deflected weighted conversations the same way she did, but with a sexual twist?

  
They both smiled at that uncharacteristically until they both realized they were laughing at one another, and it faded quickly. Walking to a nearby hot dog stand, Josie ordered for both of them and paid.

  
"My debts have now been repaid, satan," Josie commented but with a smile twitching her features. 

  
"You know you should never undermine the Devil. I always have a few tricks up my sleeve." Penelope gave her a pointed look.

  
There, her heart went beating again, as a beat passed them, Penelope's gaze could flick the gears of anxiousness to swirl throughout any person's body, and Josie was now confused whether it awakened something in her or fueled up more anger within her.

  
"Stop," Josie replied back, she didn't know what to say but that look Penelope directed her way left her uneasy.

  
She didn't expect Penelope to actually submit to her request. Until Penelope changed the subject altogether once again. As they continued to walk around with no destination as it seemed like.

  
"Why did you move here?"

  
Josie was too exhausted to go around the topic, so she just answered it truthfully.

  
"Needed a change, Lizzie always talked about how much she loved this place, and at one point in time, everyone has an urge to try out New York, It just seemed like the perfect time," Josie typically explained as she took another bite off her hotdog.

  
"I guess so...But something tells me there is more to that story." Penelope thought out loud before she caught herself and realized what she had said.

  
It seemed like Penelope was going to apologize until Josie waved her off.

  
"Maybe you're right, for once."

This seemed to shoot up a sense of nostalgia down Josie's spine, it's weird how a certain balance would switch between the two.

  
Penelope was giving her an unreadable expression this time around. While usually, Josie was able to pinpoint what most of Penelope's features meant, this time, it wasn't translating, and it was itching at Josie.

  
Josie decided to flip the conversation after all Penelope was the one who suggested a give and take, and she was going to use that against her. It wasn't a way to shoot back against Penelope, though.

  
"What about you? Why New York ?"

  
A jolt of nerves seemed to hit Penelope because she seemed frozen for a moment. It seemed like she didn't like to get personal either, somewhat contradictory of her since she was somewhat trying to get to know Josie.

  
"My parents are actually immigrants, they came here for a better life, as most immigrants you know, and New York seemed diverse enough."

  
Josie nodded her head in understanding, most people came to this country hoping for more opportunities and a better start, it's sad how the reality of the situation isn't quite as beneficial for some as they hoped it would be.

  
Once they had finished eating, they headed to a small store, and even though Josie wasn't a smoker, she did like to take a drag here and there when she was having a decent time. So buying a pack and standing outside the store for a moment to light one up, seemed ideal. Penelope stared for a moment, as though she was taking her in, or she had been surprised to realize that Josie smoked.

  
"You want one?" Josie asked politely.

  
Penelope seemed to be taken aback, and Josie thought by Penelope's appearance and the way she acted, she would've been a stoner, but she declined instead.

  
"I don't smoke."

  
"Never?" Josie asked while holding a single cigarette at the tips of her fingers, awaiting Penelope's response

  
"Nope," Penelope shook her head slightly as she popped the "p."

  
"You only live once." Josie tried to convince her, and she could've sworn she saw a slight blush along Penelope's cheeks. The green-eyed girl seemed to hesitate at first, clearly thinking it through.

  
"Fuck it, sure," Penelope replied before snatching the cigarette and placing it on her lips, grabbing the lighter from Josie's hands as she leaned back on the wall.

  
The irony of the whole situation was when Penelope tried to light up the cigarette only for Josie to realize she was lighting the wrong end of the smoke. 

  
Although Josie should've felt second-hand embarrassment, Penelope only came off as more endearing.

  
"Penelope...You need to flip it to the other side." Josie explained, taking it out of the Raven-haired girl's mouth, only to hand it back to her the right way.

  
Penelope's confidence remained. She seemed intrigued for some reason, and she placed it correctly. 

  
For someone who never smokes, Penelope seemed to take a drag like a pro.

  
Josie wasn't the type to find smoking attractive, but the girl opposite of her seemed to turn every minor action to be ten times more interesting than it actually was.

  
They stood side by side, leaning against the wall smoking together, Penelope copied Josie's works of tapping the cigarette ridding it of its ashes on the tip.

  
Eventually, they walked back to their apartment complex, yet this time it was filled with a comfortable silence, but once they reached their hallway the awkwardness came back. 

  
Josie began to fidget with her hands, not sure how to go about the conversation.

  
Do they need to hug ? or do they just say goodbye?

  
This time around, things seemed to have shifted.

  
Penelope was left in the same manner; instead, Penelope being Penelope, she spoke up.

  
"I actually enjoyed this..." Penelope said with a low voice scratching her neck.

  
"Me too." Josie furrowed her brows perplexed. 

Why was this more relieving than when they fucked one another?

  
"Although, I think we can enjoy this even more," Penelope said back bluntly.

  
Josie thought that Penelope was the one inching closer to her only to come to her senses and realize it was her walking closer to Penelope. She grabbed the back of her neck and pulled the other girl into a kiss, it wasn't aggressive. It did carry the same fast-paced routine they seemed to build with each other, but it was more gentle this time around, and Josie backed away from it for a bit before a blinding smile hit her vision. 

  
Penelope, in turn, was the one to bring her back into the kiss, with more urgency. Grabbing her waist in an attempt to mold them closer together in the middle of the corridor.  
One thing led to another, and they hurriedly began to shuffle towards Penelope's apartment, before falling into bed along with their legs tangling with the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave suggestions of what you'd like to see. Anything is appreciated.  
Oh Also follow me on twitter  
@maevesbitch

**Author's Note:**

> Twitter handle @maevesbitch


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